Interview Prep: Approach

“It's not necessarily about what you say, but how you say it.” - Johnny Roccia, Advisor at Praxis

Tonight was another great night of interview prep with Johnny Roccia during Praxis Wednesday. Every time I participate in one of these calls, I gain new insights as to how to approach job interviews, and I love hearing it from an interviewer's perspective. 

My biggest takeaway from tonight is the quote above. Obviously, I knew confidence is key to leaving a good impression (not only in job interviews - just in general), but I also made another connection and I'm surprised it didn't click before. This concept can also be viewed the other way around: the way you answer a question will also change what your response is. In other words, how you say “it” changes what “it” is. 

During tonight's call, there were a lot of questions about how to answer specific questions. Things like “tell me about yourself”, “why should I hire you?”, or “what are some things you're not good at?”. I learned that the interviewer isn't necessarily looking for a thought provoking answer - just an impressive reaction.

If you can manage to stay calm, answer the question, and flip it back around to either making you or the company look good, than that's all their looking for. It's all in your head, so make sure you have the right approach and attitude about it.